GUILDFORD Borough Council has spent more than a quarter of a million pounds redeveloping its website, while other public services suffer cutbacks.

The council has spent £259,704 on a contract for a new website, an amount described by one expert as “extortionate”.

The purchase comes after a government policy in February set out objectives for public sector IT that encouraged using free, open source software where possible.

Open source software allows others to freely share, copy and modify websites, often at little or no cost.

The government policy stated that the aims included ensuring there was an effective ‘level playing field’ between open source and proprietary software, where restrictions such as copyright are enforced and do not allow sharing.

Alan Lord, director of Surrey-based software consulting business, the Open Learning Centre, which specialises in open source software, said: “That seems like an extortionate amount of money to spend on a website.

“That is the equivalent of 500 man days to build.

“In light of the government’s policy to encourage open source, it’s surprising they are spending that much money on a website when there’s so many other things in the area that need money.”

A Millmead spokesman said: “The council’s website receives on average 100,000 visits a month and four million page views each year. It is a vital tool in communicating with our residents, visitors and local businesses.

"Much of the council’s current website works well, but the systems and procedures behind the scenes have been in operation for many years and several areas need to be improved.

“The content management system in particular has been in use for seven years and it has become very difficult and expensive to make any required changes.

“While we have and continue to consider open source technology solutions for other IT projects, it wasn’t put forward by leading industry suppliers for meeting the objectives of the website project.”

Peter Webb, chairman of the South West Surrey Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: “The council should be having other priorities at the moment, particularly if it’s uncertain with what they’re trying to achieve with the website.

“There’s a danger of information overload. It’s rather like all the information which we get through the post.

“Now that we’re in a recession, it’s not the time to be making those changes.”